Eating & Money

A word from an interview with Suze Orman, personal financial advisor extraordinaire:

I have a really, really hard time with budgets, and the reason I have a hard time with budgets is that budgets are just like diets. Neither of them work. Neither of them work. You go on a diet, you restrict, you lose – I mean, it happens to me all the time. You lose five pounds, ten pounds, and then you get so frustrated because you didn’t get to do what you want; you now eat everything you want and now you gain 20.

The same is true with a budget.............What do I like?

I like consciousness. I like people being able to decide what they should be spending money on and what they shouldn’t; what they want to eat and what they should be eating that’s good for them, versus what they know is bad. And when you stay in touch with who you are and what makes you healthy, so that you can live your best life – whether it’s with food, whether it’s with money, whether it’s with exercise, whether it’s with spirituality ...... when you are in touch with who you are, and you make conscious decisions or decisions from a place of consciousness, knowing that it’s an intelligent decision, it’s a wise decision, it’s not an emotional decision, it’s not an irrational decision – then what happens is you automatically choose the right choices for you. You eat what’s good for you, you spend money on things that are wise for you and that you need, and everything falls in place.

So it’s not about budgets and being restricted. It’s not about diets and choosing the right – and limiting what you can and cannot eat. It’s getting in touch with your own power, so that you make the right choices for you, and when you make the right choices for you, then you live your best life. And when you live your best life, you feel even more powerful; that allows you to make even better choices for you.

The "getting in touch with your own power" part seems a little New Age-y to me, but I love the premise. I like consciousness too. Kinda what I was referring to in my last post, knowing the "how we got here" instead of just cleaning up the aftermath. I like the thinking that I can choose what to eat {and spend my money out} by making an intelligent and wise decision, not one that's emotional or irrational. I think there is power in that: knowing that I'm making the right choice for the right reasons.

Edited to say: I do think budgets work. Not the kind of "I'm accustomed to spending $600 a month on groceries, but now I only plan on spending $300" budgets that I think Suze is referring to, but the kind that are purposeful, realistic guidelines of where you plan to use your money.

P.S. The rest of the interview over at Wise Bread has lots of great financial wisdom, so you may just want to check it out.